If you read all the negative reviews about this place, you’d naturally be less inclined to pay this place a visit. That was my reaction when I first heard about this place some months ago. Of course, you really don’t know what a place is like until you’ve experienced it for yourself.

Paleo is short for “Paleolithic”, and the diet that relates to this, refers to the plants and animals that were consumed during this era 2.5 millions years ago. This means food that contains eggs, nuts, fruit, vegetables, berries, seeds, lean meat and seafood. Items that our bodies weren’t designed to digest such as dairy, grains, sugars and preservatives are to be avoided.

The Paleo Cafe is a franchise with stores across the country. The Adelaide store is located on King William Road in Hyde Park, and is decorated with the popular bright orange and white colour combination. There are plenty of seats both upstairs and on the ground level, and they even have a special play area to cater for customers with children.

For lunch, I had the Open Lamb Burger. The dish was ready after a 11 minute wait and was average in presentation. My initial thought was that it didn’t look like a burger, but underneath all the ingredients was a small toasted linseed bun.

The tender grass fed lamb patty was rather small in size and looked dry and overcooked. My suspicions were correct as I couldn’t even cut one section of the patty with knife. From what I could eat, it was well marinated and it didn’t actually taste too bad.

This burger had a whole range of ingredients with different tastes and textures. The rocket was fresh and crisp, and the avocado was soft and delicate. The natural sweetness of the red onion was balanced by the sourness of the gherkin. The beetroot relish really didn’t do much for the burger, but neither did the mint mayonnaise or lemon aioli. To me, it was a mish mash of ingredients that didn’t really come together.

The highlight was the side of roasted sweet potato chips. The sweet potato was soft with a lovely natural sweetness. Everything else seemed to be secondary on the dish.

The staff were friendly and the service was good. The atmosphere was relaxed and the pricing is average for a cafe. My burger set me back $20 which was a bit pricey for what it was. Then again, it is 100% paleo and gluten free, so there usually is a markup for healthy food. The rest of the dishes range from $12-$22 which is reasonable.

I’d probably give this place another go in the future, but I wouldn’t order the burger again.

WHERE: 183-185 King William Rd, Hyde Park